Give a Gift to a Foster Child this Holiday

Nevada County Child Protective Services has distributed their annual "Giving Trees" to different community locations. Every December, Child Protective Services works with community partners to collect donated presents for children in foster care in Nevada County. This annual tradition brings joy to foster children during the holiday season and helps support their foster families.

Each Giving Tree has tags for each child currently in agency care. The tags include the child's gender, age, and some of their interests/wishes. Simply take a tag, shop for the items listed, and return the tag and all donations of unwrapped gifts back to the pick-up site or to the Child Protective Services office at 988 McCourtney Ave in Grass Valley. All gifts and tags will be returned to Child Protective Services by Friday, December 15th, to be wrapped and delivered to a foster child by Christmas.

Stop by and pick a tag from a Giving Tree in the following locations:

Nevada City:

Eric Rood Administrative Center

Nevada County Courthouse

Grass Valley:

Brighton Greens

Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters

South Yuba Club

Penn Valley:

West America Bank

If you have any questions about the Giving Tree program, please contact Laura Charter at laura.charter@co.nevada.ca.us or (530) 265-1650. Thank you for your generous support of Nevada County's foster children and their families, and happy holidays!

FREED Funding to Help Residents Affected by October Fires

After a wildfire event, people with disabilities of all types can be greatly affected. In partnership with FREED Center for Independent Living, additional funding through a Special Transition Grant may be available for residents who have any type of disability and were displaced by the Lobo and McCourtney fires. The funding can be used for individuals that were in emergency shelters, temporary housing, or displaced due to the fires and need assistance with replenishing household necessities, personal items, clothing or food; to pay the first month's rent or utilities; to provide moving assistance or personal assistance not covered by IHSS; or to purchase assistive technology items.

211 Connecting Point can connect affected fire residents to FREED Center for Independent Living for more information on the Special Transition Grant, and to other community resources and services available. Contact 211 Connecting Point by calling 211 or (844) 319-4119 if dialing from a phone that is not in the (530) area code.

Lobo and McCourtney Property Values Reduced by $4.6 Million

Nevada County Assessor, Sue Horne, announced that the Nevada County Assessor's Office has now reduced $4.6 million of total taxable assessed value from Nevada County properties that were damaged in the recent Lobo, McCourtney, or Garden fires that occurred in October.

Appraisers from the Assessor’s Office have conducted site visits and completed reviews of the sixty-six properties impacted, and subsequently have lowered assessed values on forty-seven residential properties, including ten mobile homes. Twenty homes were completely destroyed and the improvements portion of their taxable assessed values were zeroed out. A property owner’s destroyed boat had its value reduced to zero as well. Nineteen properties reviewed had minimal damage or did not meet the minimum amount of $10,000 of fire damage required by tax law in order to receive a calamity reduction for their property.

A majority of the affected property owners’ corrected tax bills went out by mail this week from the Treasurer/Tax Collector’s office. By law, taxpayers have thirty days from receipt of the corrected bill to pay their reduced tax liability. A handful of property owners will receive their corrected tax bill in January 2018 as corrected tax bills are not issued in the month of December.

If property owners have any questions concerning their lowered assessment, please contact Assessor Sue Horne by calling 530-265-1232 or emailing the Assessor's Office at assessor@co.nevada.ca.us.

Partnership with Placer County for Snow Removal in Eastern County Areas

On November 2nd, Sugar Bowl provided notice terminating their snow removal contract with Nevada County. County staff worked with numerous public and private partners to identify possible snow removal services for the Soda Springs area and during these discussions, Placer County offered their assistance with snow removal services. Placer County currently performs snow removal services for nearby Soda Springs Road and the Serene Lakes community and has available labor and equipment necessary to perform the work. The County will reimburse Placer County with a maximum not to exceed amount of $180,000. The contract will include snow removal, snow pack removal, and road sanding services.

Sugar Bowl is contractually obligated to provide snow removal services through December 2nd, but due to a recent change in California law, Sugar Bowl determined it would not be feasible to continue the contract with the county to provide snow removal services. Both Sugar Bowl and the County staff worked diligently to find a solution for the snow removal needs in Soda Springs, but after efforts by both parties to find a workable solution were unsuccessful, Sugar Bowl determined the contract with the county needed to be terminated.

Sugar Bowl is committed to continue working with both counties to ensure that snow removal service levels are maintained through the winter. Nevada County staff will also be available to assist in snow removal services as needed.

If you have any questions, please contact the Nevada County Department of Public Works at (530) 265-1411.

It's Not Too Late to Get a Flu Shot

December 3rd through 9th is National Influenza Vaccination Week! The National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national awareness week focused on highlighting the importance of influenza vaccination. With flu activity increasing and family and friends planning gatherings for the holidays, now is a great time to get a flu vaccine if you haven't been vaccinated yet this season.

An annual flu vaccine is the best way to protect against this potentially serious disease. Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctor visits, pneumonia, need for antibiotics, missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations. Flu vaccination also may make your illness milder if you do get sick.

Getting vaccinated yourself also protects people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.

The 2017/2018 flu vaccine provides optimal protection against the flu this season because:

Flu viruses are constantly changing, and this season's vaccines have been updated to protect against the viruses that surveillance data indicate will be most common this flu season.

A person's immune protection from vaccine declines over time so annual flu vaccination is needed for the best protection against the flu.

It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against influenza virus infection.

While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, flu activity is usually highest between December and February, though activity can last as late as May. As long as flu activity is ongoing, it's not too late to get vaccinated, even in January or later. For more information about Nevada County Public Health Department's immunization clinics, please contact Lisa Richardson at (530) 265-7049.

Primary Election Handbook

The Nevada County Election Department’s June 5th, 2018 Primary election Candidate Handbook will be available today, December 1st, 2017. The handbook contains qualifications to run for an office, fees, deadlines and other details for anyone wanting to run for a state or local office. The handbook can be found on the Election’s Department Website, and copies will be available at the Elections Department located at 950 Maidu Ave. Suite 210, Nevada City, California. For any questions please call (530)265-1298.

California AmeriCorps Grant Opportunity for Alleviating Poverty

The California State Office of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has announced the opportunity to develop and sponsor new AmeriCorps VISTA projects in California.

AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a national service program that supports efforts to alleviate poverty by engaging individuals, 18 years and older, in a year of full-time service with a sponsoring organization. VISTA projects help to create or expand programs designed to bring individuals and communities out of poverty. VISTA members focus on building permanent infrastructure in sponsoring organizations that bolsters their ability to alleviate poverty in their community.

The AmeriCorps VISTA program is a great opportunity for non-profits and public organizations working on the issue of poverty in Nevada County to receive additional support for their program. Successful applicants will be approved to sponsor a VISTA project. VISTA resources are typically awarded with a three-year investment in mind and applicants should plan to develop sustainable capacity at a site/project within a three-year time period. The approval of each year after year-one is based on performance and availability of funding.

To apply, complete CNCS' Request for Concept Papers (RFCP) by March 12, 2018. This opportunity is open to those organizations that are not currently AmeriCorps VISTA sponsors.

For more information on on the RFCP and the AmeriCorps VISTA program, visit CNCS' website.

Behavioral Health Director, Rebecca Slade, Announces Her Retirement

Nevada County's Behavioral Health Director, Rebecca Slade, has announced her retirement. Becky is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist of twenty-five years and has worked for Nevada County for twelve years, including ten years as the Program Manager for Children's Behavioral Health and two years as the Behavioral Health Director.

She helped to create an award winning Children's System of Care, a Latino Outreach program, the Second Step program in local schools, a Suicide Prevention program, and represented the County with dignity and professionalism. She expanded services to children and families and strengthened relationships with both community partners and HHSA Departments.

Most recently, Becky and Behavioral Health staff hosted the Steinburg Institute, a statewide organization dedicated to advancing sound public policy and inspiring leadership on issues of brain health. This visit was a step towards advocating and creating understanding around the policy needs of Behavioral Health departments in rural counties. Thanks to Becky's leadership in Behavioral Health, "Nevada County serves as an outstanding model of Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) spending, amplified by an innovative blend of other revenue streams," says Maggie Merritt, Executive Director of the Steinberg Institute. "Our thanks to this team whose professionalism and dedication are changing lives every day."

We'd like to thank Becky for the twelve years she dedicated to Nevada County and its residents.

Congratulations to the 2017 Citizen's Academy Graduates

Congratulations to the graduates of the 2017 Nevada County Citizen's Academy, who completed the ten week class on County government on Monday, November 20th.

Citizen's Academy aims to acquaint community members to the various functions and services of County government. Participants learned about the diverse services offered by the County; met County managers and elected officials; and toured many of the County facilities, including the Eric Rood Administrative Center, Nevada County Airport, Brighton Greens building, Crown Point Circle building, Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, and Juvenile Hall.

This year's participants have diverse backgrounds and roles within our local community, each bringing their individual opinions and questions to the program. Throughout the ten weeks the class developed a comprehensive understanding of County services and the collaboration between County departments. Participants felt like they gained insight and an appreciation of our local County government, while also having the opportunity to network with key County staff and community members.

Another thank you goes to Nancy Jeffery, who did an excellent job facilitating this year's Citizen's Academy.

The next session of Citizen's Academy will take place in fall of 2018. If you are interested in participating in Nevada County's Citizen's Academy in the future, please email ceo@co.nevada.ca.us or call (530)265-7040 to be notified of upcoming Citizen's Academy dates and deadlines via email.

Library Events: Family Movie and Hour of Code

Come to the Madelyn Helling Library for a Family Movie Afternoon on Monday, December 4th at 3:30 p.m. The movie Brave will be shown and free popcorn will be served.

The Library is participating again this year in the Hour of Code, a global movement to introduce young people to computer science and demystify "coding." The Library has two coding events with robots planned:

Code with Kibo: Kibo are robots that you can program screen-free. It's a perfect introduction to coding for younger children. Grass Valley Library: Tuesday, December 5th from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Ages 5 and up

No registration necessary

Code with Spheros: Come code with the rolling robot, Sphero! We will have iPads loaded with the app and plenty of coding challenges. Madelyn Helling Library: Wednesday, December 6th from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Ages 8 and up

No registration necessary

Don't forget the Library's regularly scheduled events, like PAWS to Read on Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. where you can come practice your reading with a trained therapy dog at Madelyn Helling Library, or the new Family Storytime on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. at Grass Valley Library.